2025/12/10 by Das, Gourab
Physics and Astronomy · #Advanced Thermodynamics and Statistical Mechanics #FOS: Physical sciences #Quantum Physics (quant-ph) #Spectroscopy and Quantum Chemical Studies #stochastic dynamics and bifurcation
paper · pdf · doi:10.48550/arxiv.2512.09324
openalex publication_date 2025/12/10 · openalex created_date 2025/12/12 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/28
The Mpemba effect (MpE), where a far-from-equilibrium state of a system relaxes faster compared to a state closer to it, is a well-known counterintuitive phenomenon in classical and quantum systems. Various system-specific theories have been proposed to explain this anomalous behavior in driven systems, though the fundamental mechanism of MpE in undriven systems, where MpE was first observed, remains unresolved. This paper provides a generic model of MpE for a quantum system following Markovian relaxation dynamics, regardless of system structure or environment. The key lies in the overlap of initial states with the fast relaxation mode; here, the constituents create a fast decay mode via interaction through the shared environment to show MpE, indicating MpE happens due to the collective behavior of the system. I also show that a system with anisotropic relaxation naturally exhibits MpE, even without a shared environment among the particles.